Connectors are ubiquitous and are used in variety of applications for coupling two electronic devices. Most connectors usually have some sort of contacts that facilitate transmission of signals between the devices connected using the connectors. Connectors are often the primary means of connecting two devices, e.g., a host device and an accessory device.
Conventionally, mechanical means such as a latch have been employed to detect physical mating of one connector to another. However, such mechanical means of detecting physical mating of connectors tend to degrade over time due to general wear and tear making them unreliable over a longer period of time. Also, such mechanical means has a tendency to break or rupture making the connector potentially unusable. Also, in instances where a quick connect/disconnect is desired, the mechanical approach is too slow.
In addition, it has been known that having a constant bias voltage present on any electrical contact increases the chances of dendrite growth and corrosion of the contacts.